Needlework Tuesday - Rabbit, Scarf, and a bit of lace.

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

This week I worked on three projects, all from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month.

For this first one, I completed the knitting last month, but didn't get around to assembling it until last week. Here's my finished rabbit:

I could have chosen to knit the arms and legs in similar colours so they'd match, at least each other (by winding off some of the self-striping yarn - an option on the pattern), but I opted to just continue knitting with the yarn as is.  At the time, I didn't think it was worth the bother.  However, now that I look at it perhaps it would look more finished or cohesive with matching limbs.

I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's done. The pattern was pretty vague in the finishing of this piece. There was some direction with respect to stuffing the arms and legs, but none for the head or body. The sewing together, the positioning of the limbs, and the facial features were all left up to the individual crafter. Something isn't quite right, but I think I did okay.

One part I really don't like is that the pattern instructs the crafter to make separate eyes and then sew them onto the head. Had I thought about it more, I would have embroidered the eyes instead. As they are constructed now, the eyes are a choking hazard for babies and toddlers. I wish the designers had thought of that or at least mentioned it in the pattern.

Things I don't like about knitting stuffed items:

• • it's hard to know how much to stuff 
• • it's hard to get the stuffing evenly distributed 
• • it never looks like the photo 
• • it eventually becomes a dust collector 

The kit had enough yarn and stuffing to make two of these rabbits. I don't think I'm going to bother with the second one. I still have quite a bit of yarn left, so I'll be looking for something else to make with the leftovers. Lots of options.

The second item I worked on was the Yin Yang Shawl, October's project, which could also be used as a scarf. I love working in short rows!!!  It turned out okay, I guess. It feels soft and drapes nicely when it's in my hands, but doesn't fit nicely on my shoulders as a shawl and is a little stiff wrapped around my neck as a scarf.  Perhaps some blocking would help??  Anyway, here it is:

At least here you can see the short rows and the subtle colour changes.

The last project I worked on is the lacy Mary Maxim project shawl/scarf I've been working on for months. It's getting a lot easier, but it's still slow going. Here's a close up of the lace:

This week I also took a trip to my local yarn store, which had a 25% off sale on selected colours of Shibui yarns. They're yarns are ultra luxurious and quite pricy, so generally sales have me jumping for joy. This time I actually went to the store with two scarf patterns, so I didn't just add to my stash. The hardest part was combing through the baskets looking for enough yarn to complete the projects I selected. Luckily, I had both my husband and the helpful staff helping me pick colours. I'll feature both of these patterns at a later date.

This coming week I'm going to start a new project. I'm just not sure which one yet. Of course, I hope to continue to work on my lacy shawl/scarf.

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.